Author: Judy Leigh
The Silver-Haired Sisterhood is a book by Judy Leigh, and a second one in the series (which I hope will continue). In the first book, Five French Hens, we met a group of women who met at an aqua aerobics class: Rose, Jen, Pam, Della, and Tess. Jen was meant to get married to Eddie, so her friends organised a hen party in Paris, which turned out to be not just a party but also a revelation on how it is never too late to change things. French hens are all in their 70s, and whilst Jen decided not to marry Eddie, she went on a cruise and came to realise that travelling as much as she can is what she wants to do. Rose decided to stay in Paris and play ABBA songs on piano with Greta Manchester, in a drag show bar, whilst Pam and Tess ended up questioning their lives and the decisions they made. The only one who had stable emotions was Della, a British woman of Jamaican origin who was happily married to her husband, Sylvester, and missed him greatly whilst also trying to have fun.
This second book, the Silver-Haired Sisterhood, happens four years later and focuses on Tess and Della. Following the tragic passing of Sylvester (which happens right at the beginning of the book, so this is not a spoiler), Tess invites Della to join her on a trip to the Isle of Skye in Scotland to change scenery and come to terms with losing the love of her life. Tess has spent the past four years living in Rose’s house whilst Rose stayed in Paris to play in her shows. She divorced Alan and obtained a divorce settlement, but does not know yet what she wants to do with it. Jen and Pam continue to travel and enjoy life, and in this book, present very minor characters that only appear at the beginning and the end of the book, which otherwise focuses on Della and Tess and their explorations of the Isle of Skye.
The exploration of a Scottish island is nicely portrayed, and I personally ended up sending two abstracts to the annual congress of the British Sociological Association because the next congress is in Edinburgh, and that happens to be close to the Isle of May, which I want to visit (because it looks a lot like what you see in series about Scotland aka amazing). Scots were portrayed in a funny and good way, i.e., as kind (which is what Scotland is known for) but also rough around the edges lol
Tess and Della end up staying in a small hotel where the owner is struggling to keep business afloat due to his wife leaving him and demanding that he sell and pay her out, which he does not want to do, for the hotel is a family inheritance and has a long family history. But, at the same time, he does not know how to run it himself. Tess and Della end up warming up to Roddie and his troubles and throw themselves into helping him rebuild things so he can increase his business take and pay out to his wife. They also meet other hotel guests and local people, including Mordo, Roddie’s uncle. Towards the end, all friends meet in Scotland and make decisions about their lives. In some cases, that includes finding new love, and in others, figuring out what they want to do with their lives (again!). I always appreciate Leigh’s focus on living life to the fullest and never being too late to change things.
A Silver-Haired Sisterhood is a nice story of friendship, but also helping someone in need. I missed Pam because she is my favourite and I hope there will be more about her in future books (and Aurora from The Golden Oldies’ Book Club).
Thank you for reading!